Smoking bylaw to be changed at Surrey Memorial

SURREY (NEWS1130) – Very soon you won’t be able to smoke at Surrey Memorial Hospital. Mayor Dianne Watts says the city has changed its bylaw, which she says is good for patients and visitors.

“It’s been problematic because people will be outside and in the front of the hospital smoking and then you’ve got people that are going in for chemo therapy and getting cancer treatment and walking through hoards of smoke,” argues Watts.

Right now you can still light up as long as it’s seven-and-a-half meters away from the building.

“We don’t want it anywhere on the entire property for Surrey Memorial Hospital…there was a seven-and-a-half meter setback so we’re saying not on the property at all.”
    
The next step is for it to get sent to the Medical Health Officer and Health Ministry before it can be adopted by Surrey council and the ban to be in place.

Earlier

Smoking near Surrey Memorial Hospital may be even tougher to do for patients, if Fraser Health has its way.

The health authority and the City of Surrey say they have experienced a number of complaints over the years.

Tonight, the fight will go back to city hall, and if the smoking bylaw was to be updated, it would look to ban smoking anywhere around Surrey Memorial Hospital and the Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre.

Many people don’t want anything to do with second-hand smoke, especially near a hospital.

One man outside the hospital says he is a little concerned about this. “I see a  lot of these patients, that are really sick, they’re not going to quit. If they don’t give them a place, they’re going to just park themselves wherever they want and then smoke.”

The area between the Emergency Room and the BC Cancer Agency is a popular place for a puff, and Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts says it’s unacceptable for people undergoing cancer treatments to have to walk through clouds of second-hand smoke.

Another man says he’s not happy about it, and suggests it could be very hard for some patients. “I think everything is getting a bit too crazy for smokers, and it’s kind of making us feel like lepers. It feels like we’re doing something way worse than what we are.”

He, along with others, suggest a smoke pit could be a solution.

If the bylaws were changed, it would be an offence for individuals to smoke at the hospital and at the Jim Pattison centre and it would allow for penalties on anyone who violated the restrictions. Watts says there are several ways to enforce the bylaws.

One problem? Some doctors suggest recovering patients need to carry on with their regular routines, which for many, includes keeping up the habit.

Existing no smoking policy tough to enforce

Meanwhile Fraser Health’s Roy Thorpe-Dorward says although a no smoking policy has been in place at the hospital for four years, it has been a challenge to enforce. “We have a hospital policy, but we don’t a lot of ability to enforce, other than reminders and posting signage. So we’re very pleased that they’re going to assist us with that.”
    
He says additional support would be helpful, and this has been an ongoing issue for a while. “We have heard from time to time, from patients, staff, and visitors that this is something they don’t want to see.”

He says there will be smoking dedicated areas around the property.